Chapter 1 — The Snow Melts, The Sun Shines On The Green Mountains

I had only been born three days when my biological parents stuffed me into a cardboard box and threw me away in the snowy night at Thanh Thach Ao. Twenty-three households in the village took turns breastfeeding me, carrying me to school, and pampering me into the most unruly girl in the village. Twenty-five years later, I brought the project and capital back to the village to repair the road. Waiting for the cooperative to achieve results, my biological parents held the DNA test results to block the signing ceremony, declaring that I was their beloved daughter who had been lost for many years. They thought I would accept my ancestors and then give the village project to my younger brother. I immediately threw the old abandoned child registration form in front of everyone, and at the same time pushed back the cooperation contract worth tens of millions.

"Do you want to be my parents? Okay. First of all, explain why, on the day you abandoned me, you two held a baby shower for your son in the house?"

1 How long I lay in the snow, no one can say. The following stories are all things I heard my grandfather and other people tell countless times, then put them together into a complete story myself. Some people speak for half an hour, some speak for two hours. The winter wind in Thanh Thach Ao is cold to the bone. Every time this issue was discussed, the villagers wished they could make that year's snow fall again, to prove that their memory was the most accurate. I only know that the first person to hear my cry was Luong Thu Nghia. That year, Luong Thu Nghia was nearly sixty years old and was the party secretary of Thanh Thach Ao village. At midnight, he went to the village headquarters to turn off the circuit breaker and heard a cat meowing in a cardboard box containing fertilizer in front of the door. He pulled out the blue cloth that covered it. There was no cat in sight, only a wrinkled newborn baby girl. In the carton were half a bag of powdered milk, a few crumpled bills and a piece of paper torn from an exercise book.

“Daughter, born prematurely, don't look.”

Luong Thu Nghia stuffed me into a cotton shirt, then kicked open Luong Quoc Dong's door.

“Wake up quickly! Boil water!”

Luong Quoc Dong only had time to put on one shoe before rushing out.

“Uncle, whose house is on fire?”

“No houses are on fire.”

Luong Thu Nghia pulled the cotton shirt out a bit.

“There is a child who is about to freeze to death.”

That night, the lights of all the houses in Thanh Thach Ao were on. Aunt Chu just gave birth three months ago and still has milk left. When my aunt held me in her arms, I was so weak that I no longer had the strength to cry, I could only open my mouth to look for food. My aunt was breastfeeding me while crying.

“Who is this heartless person?”

Luong Quoc Dong held a flashlight and led more than a dozen people along the mountain road to search twice. The snow had covered the tire tracks and footprints, only the ancient tree at the beginning of the road was shaking violently in the wind. Near morning, people from the police station arrived. I was taken to the hospital for a checkup. No frostbite, no sequelae left. The welfare agency posted a notice looking for relatives according to the correct procedure, but for sixty days no one showed up. In the village there was a meeting. That day, everyone who could come crowded into the village headquarters. Some people want to adopt me, some people are worried that their home conditions are not good, but most just say one thing:

“Don't take her away.”

Luong Quoc Dong and Tuong Tu Lan qualified for adoption and also agreed to carry out the procedure. Two people informed me, my household registration was entered into their house Wage. When it came time to name it, the whole village argued. An enamel pot is placed at the beginning of the village, each house puts a piece of paper in it. Luong Thu Nghia conveniently picked up a leaflet and opened it to see three words: Hua Chieu Tinh. The surname Hua is the word "hua" in "promise that the baby will be safe". The name Chieu Tinh was written by Tuong Tu Lan.

“The snow will eventually stop, the sunlight will shine again.”

Some people laugh at her cheesyly. She immediately hugged me tightly.

“My daughter, I like that.”

Luong Thu Nghia rummaged through an old cabinet at the village headquarters, found a bronze bell and tied it to my diaper.

"In the future, whoever takes care of her will bring a bell. When you hear the bell, you know Thanh Thach Ao's little ancestor has arrived."

Since that day, I have parents, and also a whole village of unofficial relatives. People in the village often say they saved me. In my opinion, that sentence is only half true. Because after that, they pampered me to the point that they didn't know how high and how thick the earth was. ### 2 When I was three years old, I knew the meal times of all the houses in the village. In the morning, he went to Mrs. La's house to drink millet porridge, at noon he squatted in front of Aunt Chu's house waiting for braised meat, and at night he went home and pretended to be pitiful. Tuong Tu Lan opened the lid of the pot and asked me:

“Haven't you eaten yet?”

I hugged my stomach.

“I haven't eaten anything all day.”

The Dai Hoang following me suddenly burped loudly. Mom looked at me. I looked at Dai Hoang. The ungrateful dog turned around and ran away.

“Hua Chieu Tinh!”

I had to run straight to Luong Thu Nghia's house.

“Grandpa save me!”

Luong Thu Nghia was sitting on the doorstep fixing the bronze bell, not bothering to raise his head.

“First ask why your mother beat you.”

“Mom is jealous because you eat a lot.”

His hands trembled, almost dropping his glasses. In the village, no one really had the heart to hit me. The most dangerous time in my childhood was when I was five years old. I took Luong Tranh to steal unripe green peaches, but the fruit fell from the tree into the straw. Luong Tranh is seven years older than me, the biological son of Luong Quoc Dong and Tuong Tu Lan. He fell first, and I landed straight on his stomach. He was in so much pain that his face turned white, but he still asked me:

“Where did you fall?”

I crawled up, brushed my butt.

"Brother, your belly is very soft. Next time, remember to continue lying under me to support me."

Luong Tranh was so angry that he didn't pay attention to me for three days. On Wednesday, the school distributed new school bags. He took all the pocket money he had saved for half a year and bought me a bunny-printed briefcase.

“Wear it carefully, don't get it dirty.”

“What about you?”

“I used the old pair.”

I stuffed the briefcase back into his lap.

"I also use my old bag. Your money is to buy candy, the two of us split it in half."

He looked at me for a long time then burst out laughing.

“Okay, I'm seven and I'm three.”

“Based on what?”

“Based on you being the older brother.”

“So I'm eight, you two.”